Monday, September 19, 2016

The Deplorables are Also the Unreachables

Sunbury, Ohio Trump Shop

It's becoming ever more apparent that there is a segment of our population--a depressingly large segment--that is unreachable. Unreasonable. Unconvincable. The base, core support for Donald Trump is possibly most of them, and possibly 40% or more of the electorate, and it doesn't matter what Trump says, does, doesn't say or doesn't do to shake them. No amount of proof that he's unqualified, racist, wrong or dangerous will matter: THEY. DO. NOT. CARE. Nothing will shake them, no matter how deeply it goes against their so-called bedrock issues. Not lack of religiosity. Not immorality. Not lying. Not cheating. Not lawbreaking. Not hypocrisy. Nothing. Nothing will shake them, period.

So, it's time to stop trying. It's time to stop trying to convince your Uncle Joe, your Gramma Irene, and even your stubbornly conservative parents. They're on the Trump Train to its destination, whether it be the presidency or an embarrassing loss. And a loss is one of the only things that will shake them off, and probably get about half to disown the notion that they ever supported him. The other, of course, would be the nearly certain disastrous presidency that would ensue should he manage the feat of election. In that case, he'll likely also lose half of his original base, who will deny ownership of that vote, and hold on to the tenacious 20% that seems to always cling to the GOP regardless.

So, who are the persuadables? Well, we can already count on Hillary Clinton having her own unshakable 20% or so, one would presume. And possibly a further 20% that just can't see a rational alternative. That leaves about 20% in the middle, but they're comprised of so many factions, using a single strategy might not be possible. They're made up of soft supporters from either side, independents who like neither candidate, Jill Stein supporters, Gary Johnson supporters, #BernieOrBust-ers (who may be as unreachable as Trumpers), and those who are late to tune in, but usually vote. And even though we've accounted for 100% of the voting electorate, there is a large number out there, people who are unreliable voters, people who just don't feel moved to cast a ballot.

I recommend The Rude Pundit, if you're barely holdingon to your sanity this political season.

The primary job of the DNC, and of truly anyone not on the Trump bandwagon, is to turn out the vote. To make some noise, and to make it a duty to make sure that Trump doesn't get elected. All stops should be pulled out to this end. Yes, sell people on Hillary if they're receptive. Give good reasons why she'd be a good candidate. Positive reasons for Democratic leadership, and warnings of what happens otherwise is good for the middle 20% and the unkknown extras out there. And dire warnings could cement them.

So, I'm not saying we don't continue to point out Trump's foibles, far from it. In fact they should be more pointed, louder and clearer. We should demand the media not give him a pass, and not let up one iota. But added to this challenge should probably be trying to shun the trolls, ignore the taunts, and try to stop wasting time fighting the actual solid Trumpers. That's difficult. They taunt, they jab, they bray, and they love to do it. It's so very tempting. But it's also a waste of time. They're gone, done, locked in to a cult of personality, and morally welded to this vile candidate. Forget 'em if you can. Lock in the rest. And vote, vote, vote.

[Excerpt]The Post-Factual Election: Trump, Lies, and More Lies

"There's something you don't fucking understand," my friend from western
Virginia told me. Cal and I had been catching up. When he told me that
he was thinking of taking a job back up north "just to escape all these
Trump fuckers down here," we couldn't avoid discussing this goddamned
election. "You keep thinking that if you can show that Trump is lying,
that they'll abandon him. That's not gonna happen. They don't give a
fuck if Trump's lying or not. They just don't care. In fact, they'll
believe Trump and say that CNN is lying because it's just the liberal
media. Trump voters don't give a shit about truth. They don't give a
shit about facts. All they care about is that they hate Obama, they hate
Hillary, and they want to elect someone who isn't either of them." That
made sense: these are people who value faith above reason. . .